SilverAndSilence

by 1

  Stella has given her life to the Coalition, but her soul belongs to the men on her team. When they see something they shouldn’t, her men are locked in stasis while she is held hostage to keep the charade of their situation hidden. Her cooperation is the ransom to keep her men alive and when someone offers her an opportunity to rescue them, she would give anything to see them free. Anything.

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  Silver and Silence

  Copyright © 2012 Viola Grace

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Silver and Silence

  A Trapezium Exclusive

  By

  Viola Grace

  The monitor with the current date and time scrolling across the bottom of the screen was always within her reach. Captain Stella Yivell was tortured with the image of her men in comas with minimal brain activity. The split screen gave her another image of their data history.

  “You will be ready this evening, Stella, or your little troupe will be reduced by one.” Councilman Arken Shahs was a handsome man, but just looking at him made Stella queasy.

  “I will be ready.” She faced him when she spoke. He hated talking to her back and she wasn’t always able to hide the bruises in the clingy evening gowns he required her to wear.

  He looked as if he wanted to pick a fight, but he turned and left her alone with the images of her men.

  Her men, her team. They had trusted her to keep them safe, but stumbling into the remains of a black op after an entire population had been killed for mineral rights had put them in way over their heads. They were a standard check and report patrol, running one day ahead of schedule. One simple day. If they had arrived even six hours later, the ships would have been gone, the local magma pocket would have been punctured and the people of Deliotha would have disappeared as if they had never even existed.

  Shahs’ men had captured them and been forced to deal with a difficulty. Her group had reported in when they found the first bodies and there was a record of their arrival in the Coalition archives. If not for that bit of procedure, they would have been left as corpses with the population.

  Shahs had given her an ultimatum. If she kept her silence for one year, she would be free and her men’s minds would be returned to their bodies unharmed. To assure her that this could be done, she had experienced it firsthand.

  The memory of separation and then nothing only to be returned to her body haunted her when she looked at her men. Shahs had assured her that they were in a virtual world, boring, but enough to keep their minds occupied. The images of their mind reports were enough to give her hope that her men might one day walk out of the facility. In the meantime, she had a dinner and dance to attend.

  Shahs had set her up with a full wardrobe of evening gowns and elegant clothing. He had thankfully stopped coming to her rooms during the night for sex and settled for beating her in spots that would not show with a gown on. The beatings were easier to take than the feel of him against her.

  She opened the huge closet doors, stepping inside to make her selection. The trappings she had been given were lovely but still a reminder of her servitude.

  Stella selected an ice blue gown. The marks on her ribs and back would not be visible through the lined fabric and its silken construction and quiet colouring suited her mood.

  Every day she filed a status report that was taken across the sector and sent to the Coalition offices. She lied in every single report that she sent, but if the Coalition ever suspected that she and her men were not where she claimed, her men would be dead.

  It was a peculiar situation, but after one year, Shahs had promised them freedom. No one would care about the Deliotha, nor would anyone believe a report that had been so long in coming.

  He was a brutal man, but Stella held hope that he would honour his word. The other option was to find a way to her men and free them, but to date, she had no idea where they were being kept, and was unclear on precisely how to release them from their virtual prisons. This was not something she wanted to do on theory.

  She sighed and shook herself back to the moment. The gown was simple, so a braid draping down her shoulder would be a fine complement to her costume.

  Shoes in a muted grey matched the trim on the gown and she was ready in ten minutes, waiting patiently for Councillor Arken Shahs to arrive and escort her to yet another event as his beloved companion. If only they knew the truth, but the truth in this case would kill six people. She continued her silent vigil, the monitors and video feed her only comfort in the dimming light of sunset.

  “It is lovely to meet an active member of the Coalition, Miss Yivell. If more young ladies took an interest in politics, the meetings would be far less of a chore.” The Councillor reached out with one of his tentacles and caressed her backside.

  She smiled and let the male grope his fill. It was part of her duty as Shahs’s hostess. “I am honoured to meet such a distinguished representative as you, Councillor Glerig. My companion, Councillor Shahs, is very happy that you have come to our little gathering here on Dakora.”

  The tentacle curled over her hip and tugged her close. “Perhaps we could discuss this honour more privately?”

  A deep voice, rich and rumbling, interrupted. “Leave her, Glerig. This is no time for you to monopolize our hostess.”

  Stella breathed a deep sigh of relief as the odious male moved away and she was left facing this new threat to her equilibrium. “Hello. I am sorry, I did not catch your name.”

  He was tall. Taller than her by a head, fit, with intelligent eyes set over a no-nonsense nose and a rugged chin. His shoulders dwarfed her, made her feel petite. The slender physique of Shahs would be no match for this man. “Councillor Hahn of the Necrion assembly. I am honoured to make your acquaintance, Madam Yivell.”

  He took her hand in formal fashion and bent over it, the lightest touch of his lips on her knuckles. Her breath hitched and her belly shimmied in response. Oh, if only she could have met this man when she wasn’t constrained to hide herself.

  “You have me at a disadvantage.” She could feel the blush on her cold cheeks. This was the first waking moment that her hormones had had since this debacle began and a ripple of shame ran through her that she could be aroused while her men waited for her to save them.

  “And I intend to keep you there.” He kept her hand in his and led her to the dance floor. Without an invitation, he swept her into his arms and waltzed around the other couples with a grace and control that she admired.

  “You were not on the guest list.” Her words were a whisper in his ear as he held her close.

  “I know, but I am new to my position and Shahs was willing to make an exception when he realized where I was from.”

  She laughed lightly. It was a forced
laugh. The Necrion assembly controlled the Deliothan system and if he was here, he knew something was up. “What could our small gathering have to offer a Councillor from such a sector?”

  She leaned back to meet his gaze and he was staring at her with a wealth of sadness in his deep grey eyes. “I am finding what I was looking for.”

  Unaccountably, tears rushed to her own eyes and to cover her lack of composure, she shifted and tripped the lady of the couple passing them. The couple crashed into Stella and her partner and during the intervening apologies, the song ended and she slipped off to the buffet table with a regretful smile to Councillor Hahn.

  She was eating a tiny sandwich when she felt the chill that Shahs triggered. “Who is he, Arken?”

  He hated it when she used his first name, but he had no choice when they were pretending to be lovers. Using formalities when they were supposed to be mimicking a happy couple was out of the question.

  “He is the newest Councillor of the Necrion assembly and as such, he has power over every mining and investigation within his auspices and his range is extensive. What did he ask you?”

  She thought about it. “He didn’t ask me anything. He simply introduced himself and then we danced.”

  Arken looked down at her. “Do you think he is interested in you?”

  While they danced, she had felt the warmth of his formal clothes as well as the occasional hard brush of his erection. “He might be. Why?”

  “Give him whatever he asks for and whatever you can think of. I want to stay on his good side.”

  In that one instant, she went from prisoner to whore and she struggled to maintain her calm. She nodded coldly and composed her features so that they didn’t show her utter shock. A quick bright smile and she walked away from her tormentor, heading for the open balcony.

  Stella thought about jumping and her body would flutter endlessly to the ground before she struck and ended her torment, but that would doom her men to their deaths as well and that was something she would never do.

  She gripped the railing and stared out at the stars. She had visited many of those places in her time and wished upon wish that she would be allowed to return to her duties one day.

  “This is an odd place to find the hostess.” Hahn’s voice was smooth but not intrusive. It became part of the night that she wrapped around her.

  “I was embarrassed by causing the scuffle on the dance floor and needed a place to hide. I am guessing that I am not doing a great job.” She tried to put on a bright smile, but he saw through it.

  “Something has upset you.”

  She barked out a short laugh. “That is the most subtle way to put it.”

  He leaned close to her. “Is there anything I can do?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. He smelled wonderful, sounded concerned and had a set of shoulders that might even expunge the memory of Arken heaving into her. “I am afraid not.”

  He chuckled and lifted her chin on his knuckles. “And yet, Shahs has given me full use of your person, no holds barred. What am I to think of that?”

  She seethed. “That he is a ravening lunatic who would like to see me jump off this balcony and end the awkwardness of us appearing together at these things.”

  “Surely the thought of time with me does not repulse you.”

  She had wounded his pride and quickly had to patch it. “It is not you. I simply despise being used as an appliance that he would lend to a neighbour in exchange for good will.”

  Hahn inclined his head. “I understand that you would feel that way. May I offer a compromise?”

  She blinked at him. “Yes?”

  He moved in close and whispered, “Come with me to see your men and I promise to help you gain their freedom.”

  Shock struck her so hard that she swayed and he had to support her with hands on her elbows.

  To any casual watcher, he was simply taking her into an embrace, but to her, his warmth was a lifeline and his words sweeter than those of any lover.

  She raised her lips to his and whispered, “And why should I believe anything that you suggest, this could be one of Arken’s traps.”

  He closed the kiss for a brief moment and then parted just far enough to reply, “Lieutenant Anders Argeel is my brother.”

  She quickly pressed her lips to his in a wild kiss, tangling her tongue with his and on a quick exploration, she found what she sought. Argeel was a Ventan. They marked their family insignias on the interiors of their teeth. Hahn was indeed Argeel’s brother. He was the older brother based on his position in the order of status carvings.

  He broke the kiss, but based on his tight grip holding her flush to him, it was not his first idea. “Will you come with me to my private shuttle?”

  She quirked her swollen lips and stroked her finger tips along his formal wear. “I suppose that seeing it is not out of the question. Will you stay in our guest quarters?”

  She dug her nails into his shoulder slightly and bit her lip to give him all the clues she could manage.

  He seemed to catch on that they were being watched. “As enchanting an idea as that is, I prefer my own bed when I am studying.”

  She blinked. “What will you be studying?”

  “Every inch of you, my dear.” He set her down on her feet and held out his arm. Without a thought, she took the proffered arm and let him escort her out of the party, past the guards who had been warned to let them go and to the shuttle pads on the north of the compound.

  The click of her heels on the landing pad echoed eerily. She kept her arm loosely around his and when a scan ran over them she fought the urge to take a defensive posture. The beam emanated from over the doorway and when it had completed the sweep the door opened and the entry ramp extended.

  The security officers must have been warned to let them pass because no one stopped them from walking onto the shuttle.

  The moment the door sealed behind them, Stella turned to question Hahn about what he knew, but a hard strike from an unseen attacker made everything go dark.

  * * * *

  Rendos Hahn caught Stella before she struck the ground and looked at his companion. “What the hell, Trethan?”

  “She might have tried to escape.” He sneered at the woman.

  “Whatever we thought was going on here, she isn’t what we think.”

  “You are gullible and being led by your emotions. If you are worried, take her to the med unit and scan her while I get us going.”

  Lifting the slight form of Captain Yivell was not difficult. She didn’t even moan as he carried her to the med unit and strapped her into the standing frame for a full-body scan. No sense having Trethan torture her for information if she was pregnant with Shahs’s baby.

  He hung onto the grips as they lifted off and watched the readings that the unit was putting out with a sick feeling in his gut. He patched the bleeding on her head, sealing the wound, and went to speak to his partner about what the med scanner was showing. Their grand plan was spiralling rapidly into a situation that he had never considered.

  “Treth, we have a problem” He held up the scanner pad with the data on it.

  Trethan was working to lose the followers, but he lifted his head as Rendos sat in the nav seat. “What?”

  “She has been systematically tortured.”

  Their shuttle wavered alarmingly. “What? What the hell do you mean?”

  “She has residue of old bruising, sexual assaults, cracked bones and tissue damage I can’t even begin to describe. All damage occurred within the last six months.”

  Trethan closed his eyes. “Since they disappeared.”

  Rendos nodded. “Yes, since they disappeared.”

  “What does she say about it?”

  “Nothing, she is out cold. You gave her a concussion.”

  His words were contradicted by the blood-curdling scream that came from the med unit.

  Trethan gave him a grin. “It sounds like she is up. Better go and find her before she comes i
n here.”

  It was too late. Blood streaked her ivory hair and she had a blaster in her hand. She pressed it against Trethan’s head and said in a low, even voice. “Take me back. You have to take me back.”

  Rendos got to his feet and tried to calm her. “You don’t have to go back there. We know he was hurting you.”

  She snarled and kicked him back into his seat, one foot on the balance point of his chest while she kept the gun on Trethan. “Lives are at stake. You have to take me back.”

  Amazed at her strength and the pain that her heel was delivering to him as well as the arousal that rippled through him at the exposed length of creamy thigh, Rendos regretfully snapped his hand under her knee and held her immobile on his lap.

  “Now, Captain Yivell, tell me why lives are at stake.”

  She dragged in a deep breath. “I can’t.”

  He nodded. “If you can tell us why, we can tell you where.”

  She looked into his face, her huge blue eyes wide with shock. She bit her lip and took a deep breath and he watched every nuance on her face. He could see her grappling with confusion, deliberation and finally make a decision.

  “What do you know?”

  He smiled. “We know that my brother and the rest of your team are being held here on Dakora. We are on our way to the facility right now.”

  “You had better beat Shahs to the location. He swore to kill them the moment that I tried anything and your little stunt qualifies.”

  The pilot who must have been the guy who hit her gave her a look that bordered on respect. “Why was he keeping you alive?”

  “Because he needs me to keep the detachment alive on paper and filing our rounds. He is putting as much distance between our little bunch and Deliotha as possible in the archives.” She bit her nail before she jerked her hand back to her lap. “Why did you two pick now?”